Southern Copper Corporation $SCCO Shares Sold by Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs trimmed its Southern Copper stake by 13.7% in the fourth quarter, selling 447,910 shares and leaving it with 2.83 million shares valued at about $405.4 million.
• Analysts remain cautious on SCCO: the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” with an average price target of $145.14, reflecting more sell ratings than buy or hold calls.
• Southern Copper beat quarterly expectations, posting $1.92 EPS on $4.25 billion in revenue, and it also paid a $1.00 quarterly dividend, equal to a 2.1% annualized yield.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lowered its stake in Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO - Free Report) by 13.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,825,385 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 447,910 shares during the quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned 0.35% of Southern Copper worth $405,358,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in Southern Copper by 42.1% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 44,879 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,194,000 after purchasing an additional 13,293 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 17.9% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,705 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $627,000 after acquiring an additional 1,020 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth raised its holdings in Southern Copper by 21.5% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 5,944 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $556,000 after buying an additional 1,052 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in Southern Copper by 37.4% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 73,379 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $7,424,000 after buying an additional 19,957 shares during the period. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Southern Copper by 17.7% in the 2nd quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,864 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $492,000 after buying an additional 731 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 7.94% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on SCCO. Scotiabank reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and issued a $135.00 target price (up from $133.00) on shares of Southern Copper in a research report on Friday, May 15th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Southern Copper from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Wall Street Zen downgraded Southern Copper from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Southern Copper from $117.50 to $127.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $171.00 target price on Southern Copper and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and eight have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $145.14.

Southern Copper Stock Down 1.2%

Southern Copper stock opened at $194.21 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 3.89 and a current ratio of 4.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $159.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.09. Southern Copper Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $88.73 and a fifty-two week high of $223.88. The stock's fifty day moving average is $182.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $173.32.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.04. Southern Copper had a return on equity of 45.63% and a net margin of 34.13%.The business had revenue of $4.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.96 billion. Analysts predict that Southern Copper Corporation will post 7.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Copper Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th were issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 13th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Southern Copper's payout ratio is 66.12%.

Insider Activity at Southern Copper

In other news, Director Bonilla Luis Miguel Palomino sold 200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.82, for a total value of $35,564.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,807 shares in the company, valued at $321,320.74. This trade represents a 9.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders sold 600 shares of company stock valued at $108,412. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company's stock.

Southern Copper Profile

Southern Copper Corporation NYSE: SCCO is a large, integrated copper producer whose operations span the full value chain from exploration and mining to smelting, refining and the sale of copper and other metal products. The company produces a range of copper products including copper concentrate and refined cathodes, and recovers valuable byproducts such as molybdenum, silver and zinc. Southern Copper concentrates on high-volume, long-life assets designed to support steady production and processing capabilities.

Southern Copper's operations are concentrated in Peru and Mexico, where it owns and operates multiple large-scale mining and processing facilities.

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